Burnley has been in scintillating form in the Championship with promotion to the Premier League all but guaranteed. The Clarets’ six-year Premier League tenure came to an end on the final day of the previous season, and with Sean Dyche having departed the club less than a month before – after just shy of a decade in charge – relegation signaled a new beginning for the Lancashire side. Manchester City legend Vincent Kompany left his job at Anderlecht to take over at Turf Moor and has transformed Burnley from a team synonymous with a 4-4-2 formation into a slick, free-scoring, possession-loving powerhouse that is now just three wins away from regaining its place in the top flight at the first time of asking.
Reading won 2005/06 Championship with 106 points, the highest record since the Championship was relaunched in 2004/05. Burnley has 83 points from 37 Championship games this season, for an average of 2.24 points per game. There are 27 points available in the next nine games of the season, and if the Clarets take them all, they would finish with 110 points, a new divisional record. Yet, based on their current point-per-game average, they will finish with 103 points.
Reading and Leicester have both won 31 games during their respective Championship titles in 2005/06 and 2013/14. Kompany’s players have won 24 of their 37 matches so far, and in order to achieve a new record, they must win eight of their remaining nine matches, allowing them to drop points only once more this season. This season, Burnley has now tied the Championship record of ten, set by Reading in 2005/06 and Aston Villa in 2018/19, by winning every single league encounter from November 13 to February 11. The Clarets have won their previous two games in a row, and if they win all nine of their remaining games, they would set a new record of 11 straight league victories.
Reading and Watford have both won 19 of their 23 home games in the 2005/06 and 2020/21 seasons, respectively. Thus far, Burnley has won 14 of its 19 home games. They can only win a maximum of 18 games with four games remaining. This record is shared by West Ham and Norwich, who won 15 of their 23 away games in the 2011/12 and 2020/21 seasons, respectively. They are capable of matching it. Kompany’s team has won 10 of their 18 away games so far and can reach 15 if they win all of their remaining road games. Reading won 2005/06 Championship by losing only two games, to Plymouth and Luton.
Between August 2005 and February 2006, Reading set the current record by going 33 league games undefeated. Burnley is unbeaten in 17 league games and has only lost once since a 1-0 loss to Watford on August 12. The setback, against Sheffield United on November 5, 2022, ensures the Clarets’ longest undefeated run will be 26 if they avoid defeat in their next nine games.
Fulham set a new record in the Championship last season, scoring 106 goals, 43 of which were scored by Aleksandar Mitrovic. Burnley has scored 74 goals in 37 games this season, for an average of two goals per game. If they keep this pace until the conclusion of the season, they will have scored 92 goals, 14 fewer than Fulham. Reading scored 58 goals in 23 games at the Madejski Stadium during their championship-winning 2005/06 season. Burnley has 43 home goals in 19 games this season, averaging 2.26 goals per game. If they continue at this rate, they will complete the season with 52 goals at Turf Moor.
Fulham scored 50 goals on the road last season, matching Bournemouth’s record from the previous season. Burnley has 31 away goals in 18 games, for an average of 1.72 goals per game. Yet, if they continue at this rate, they will fall 10 points short of the record. Watford conceded only 30 goals in 46 games during their promotion season in 2020/21, equating to 0.65 goals per game. Preston did the same in 2005/06, finally losing in the play-off semi-finals against Leeds. To create a new record, they would need to not surrender a single goal in their final nine games, and only one more to tie the current mark.
In the 2015/16 season, Middlesbrough conceded only eight goals on their way to finishing second behind Burnley. With five games remaining, the Clarets have now allowed 13 goals in 19 outings at Turf Moor. Sheffield United, QPR, and Newcastle United all had 17 goals surrendered in 2008/09, 2010/11, and 2016/17, respectively. Burnley has conceded 16 goals in their 18 Championship away matches this season, but they will need to keep clean sheets in all five of their remaining road games to create a new record.
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